With just over 24 hours to go before the start of Leg 1, meteorologist Gonzalo Infante gives us the lowdown on what the teams can expect as they leave Alicante for Cape Town.
“It is going to be a hard first 24-hours for the crews and the priority will be to ensure they don’t break the boats before they have found their way out of the Mediterranean”
According to Infante, a secondary weather front spawned by a 1500-mile wide low-pressure system located to the north west of Spain is expected to batter the fleet with gale force winds on their first night at sea.
“This low pressure system will gather intensity as it moves in from the west, and the fleet will have to deal with 30-knots headwinds and three metre waves as they head for the Strait of Gibraltar on their way out of the Mediterranean.”
Infante says the boats will have a fast run in the opening stage of the leg, blasting along at around 20-knots for the first three hours on their way to the Cape Palos headland.
“At Cape Palos they head due south towards the next headland at Cabo De Gatas and that’s where they will turn to the west and face the full effect of the gale force headwinds.”
Infante expects the boats to hug the coast of Malaga during the night in order to escape the strongest winds and sail in flatter waters.
“Sailing against the wind a Volvo Open 70 reaches its top speed in 18-knots of wind, so the crews will look for some sort of shelter from the land. Nevertheless, it’s going to be a harsh first night for them. They will take a real pounding from the waves and will have to do lots of energy sapping tacks along the coast.”
Infante says the fleet can expect no respite from the strong winds on the approach to Gibraltar, where the boats will exit the Mediterranean into the open expanses of the Atlantic.
“The narrow gap at Gibraltar is notoriously difficult to negotiate in strong westerly winds. The huge Spanish and North African mountain ranges on either side act as a funnel, adding to the wind speed and kicking up some really unpleasant steep waves.
“It is going to be a hard first 24-hours for the crews and the priority will be to ensure they don’t break the boats before they have found their way out of the Mediterranean.”
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